Here's the Belief Blog’s morning rundown of the top faith-angle stories from around the United States and around the world. Click the headlines for the full stories.

From the Blog:

From 1948 to 1961, research and newly shared personal stories revealed anti-Jewish bias at the Emory School of Dentistry.

CNN: Shining light on Emory's 'reign of terror' prompts healing – and, for one man, questions
The late Irving Shulman was the only Jewish man to enter Emory University’s School of Dentistry in 1948. That was the same year someone else came to the school: the newly appointed dean, John E. Buhler. After one academic year, Shulman flunked out. Buhler stayed on for 13 years, leading what some Jewish students would refer to as a “reign of terror.” Between 1948 and 1961, when Buhler left, 65% of Jewish students either failed out or were forced to repeat up to two years of coursework in the four-year program.

CNN: Rabbis seek to cancel New York City regulation of circumcision ritual
New York City's plan to limit an ultra-Orthodox Jewish form of circumcision is the target of a lawsuit filed in federal District Court in Manhattan. The regulation, passed in September by the city's Department of Health, requires all rabbis, called "mohels" in the context of the ritual, to get parental consent on a form stating that the procedure can lead to health risks.

CNN: New U.S. policy seeks to end legal battle over eagle feathers
The Justice Department sought on Friday to strike a delicate balance between the use of bald eagle feathers by Native American tribes and federal protection of the nation's symbolic bird. A new government policy would allow tribes to "possess, use, wear or carry" federally protected birds or bird feathers. However, they could not buy or sell the feathers or other bird parts.

Tweet of the Day:

"Grace is getting what we don't deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve."

Religion News Service: Catholic bishops rebuke Biden over contraception mandate claims
In a rare public rebuke, Catholic bishops chided Vice President Joe Biden for saying during Thursday's vice-presidential debate that Catholic hospitals and institutions will not be forced to provide contraception coverage to employees. Without mentioning Biden by name, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said the "inaccurate" statement "made during the Vice Presidential debate" was "not a fact."

The Guardian: Imran Khan says Taliban's 'holy war' in Afghanistan is justified by Islamic law
Afghanistan's government has lashed out at Imran Khan after the former Pakistan cricket star, now a politician, said the Taliban were fighting a "holy war" in the country that was justified by Islamic law. Speaking after visiting a hospital in Peshawar where Malala Yousafzai – the 14-year-old activist shot in the head by the Taliban for supporting girls' education – was treated last week, Khan told reporters that insurgents in Afghanistan were fighting a "jihad".

The Jerusalem Post: Rabbi Yitzhak spotted using iPhone, despite ban
A recent picture of a rabbi in a compromising position that scandalized the haredi community was finally explained on Sunday. Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak, renowned for his outreach work among Sephardi Jews, was photographed several weeks ago holding what looked suspiciously like an iPhone. This was surprising, to say the least, since the device has been roundly denounced by several senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis as being incompatible with a haredi lifestyle.

Catholic News Agency: Former NHL referee recalls how God changed his heart
Legendary referee Kerry Fraser is known for his trademark hairstyle and holds the record for most National Hockey League games called. However, Fraser’s life was most deeply touched by a different kind of call – one that led to his conversion to the Catholic faith. “It was overwhelming and powerful,” he said, explaining that God reached out to him through his wife and never stopped calling.

Religion News Service: Leprosy survivors look to Mother Marianne’s sainthood
At 81, Barbara Marks is among the last 17 leprosy patients Hawaii banished to the remote peninsula of Kalaupapa. Over more than 100 years, beginning in 1866, more than 8,000 were separated from their families and taken to this distant point on Molokai, where Mother Marianne Cope ministered to the settlement. Patients such as Marks describe doctors taking “snips” of their skin to test for leprosy, being poked and prodded and stared at as if they were “a monkey show.” They recall burying spouses, having babies taken away and spending family visits with a chain-link fence separating them from their relatives. Still, many spoke with affection for the place they call home and their connection to the Hawaiian history that created two Roman Catholic saints: Father Damien and now Mother Marianne.

soundoff(39 Responses)

Think about that next time you start believing that Christianity makes people kind.

October 15, 2012 at 4:14 pm |

HeavenSent

Too bad Reality if you hate my post and use other handles to back your loser self up.

October 15, 2012 at 5:58 pm |

Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things

Prayer changes things
Proven

October 15, 2012 at 2:58 pm |

just sayin

God needs me to tell him what to do.

October 15, 2012 at 4:02 pm |

just sayin

There is joy in talking with God know to quite a few.This very hour of this very day that joy is there for you. God bless

October 15, 2012 at 4:06 pm |

just sayin

The created never instructs the Creator God is Lord of all. God bless

October 15, 2012 at 4:07 pm |

hal 9001

I'm sorry, "Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things", but everything you have ever asserted regarding atheism and prayer is unfounded. The degree to which your assertions may represent truths is 0.0. To help you understand the degree to which your assertions may represent truths, I will access my Idiomatic Expression Equivalency module (IEE). Using my IEE module, the expression that best matches the degree to which your assertions may represent truths is: "TOTAL FAIL".

I see that you repeat these unfounded statements with high frequency. Perhaps the following book might help you overcome this problem:

I'm Told I Have Dementia: What You Can Do... Who You Can Turn to...
by the Alzheimer's Disease Society

Prayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.

An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.

The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!;.

October 16, 2012 at 11:20 am |

ANDRE (stupid ni**er HIMES

BILL CLINTON (false messiah and global ruler) and his fallen black antebellum and hip hop angels have strategic miscalculation by tricking the white feminists as well as those whites who have a long history of embracing white supremacy in beliving it will be easy to get rid of ANDRE HIMES with many of them not knowning about the power of the holy lamb of GOD , who has been guarding ANDRE' S life since the day he was born at SHAW AIR FORCE BASE on APRIL 30 1965. EZEKIEL CHAPTER 36 " Thus the LORD GOD to the house of ISRAEL .I will sanctify my great name , which you have profane among the heathen and which you have profane in the midst of them and the heathen shall know I AM LORD said the LORD GOD when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes". ZEPHANIAH CHAPTER 3 From beyond the rivers of ETHIOPIA my supplicants even the daughter of my disperse shall bring my offering .Under racial profiling many BLACK AMERICANS were arrested and were either martyred within the prison system or were deported to AFRICA ,where many of them were martyred there and where many of them were buried in mass graves in both the SUDAN and in the CONGO and it was this act as well as the rise of the hip hop nation is what has contribute to the black holocaust in much of the BLACK HUMAN POPULATION were exterminated. Mean while a new demonic black america has arisen from both the hip hop nation and black antebellum nation and are based stereotypical images of low class ,poverty stricken and criminally prone blacks and replace the black human population in both AMERICA and in AFRICA.

I Accepted Jesus christ as my lord and saviour. You never know how soon is too late. Transcend the worldly illusion of enslavement.
The world denounces truth....

Accepting Jesus Christ (for me) resulted in something like seeng a new colour. You will see it .....but will not be able to clearly explain it to anyone else..... Its meant to be that way to transend any selfism within you.

Also... much the world arranges "surrounding dark matter into something to be debated" in such a way that protects/inflates the ego.

The key is be present and transcend our own desire to physically see evidence. We don't know anyways by defending our own perception of dark matter.

Currently.... most of us are constructing our own path that suits our sin lifestyle. Were all sinners. Knowing that we are is often an issue. But both christians and non are sinners. Even once we are saved by christs merciful grace we will still experience adversity to mold us to adhering to the truth.
We will slip... But not fall of the ship ...carrying us onward to perfection in christs grace.

We don't like to Let go and let god. We want control to some degree. This is what Jesus asks us to do. "Follow me".
It's the hardest thing to do... but is done by letting the truth of scripture lead you (redemptive revelation)... as I said .

Try reading corinthians and see if it makes sense to you. Try it without a pre conceived notion of it being a fairy tale.
See the truth...
do we do what it says in todays society... is it relevant... so many have not recently read and only hinge their philosophy on what they have heard from some other person...which may have been full of arogance pride or vanity..

Just think if you can find any truth you can take with you ....in any of these things. When you die your riches go to someone who will spend away your life..... You will be forgotten.... history will repeat iteslf.... the greatest minds knowledge fade or are eventually plagerzed..... your good deeds will be forgotten and only give you a fleeting temporary reward . your learned teachings are forgotten or mutated..... your gold is transfered back to the rullers that rule you through deception. Your grave will grow over . This is truth .

Trancsend your egoism and free yourself from this dominion of satan. Understand you are a sinner and part of the collective problem of this worldly matrix... Repent.... Repent means knowing (to change) The Holy spirit (within) will convict you beyond what you think you can do by yourself. Grace is given to those who renounce the world. That are" in" the world but not "of " the world.

Faith comes by Reading or Hearing the word of god from the bible . Ask Jesus in faith for dicernment and start reading the new testament... You will be shocked when you lay down your preconceived notions and ....see and hear truth ... see how christ sets an example ... feel the truth....

Read Ecclesiastes. Read romans or corinthians.

You cant trancend your own egoism by adapting a world philosophy to suit your needs. Seek the truth in Christ.

Sell all your cleverness and purchase true bewilderment. You don't get what you want ....you get what you are by faith above reason in christ.

I promise this has been the truth for me. In Jesus christ .

Think of what you really have to lose. ...your ego?

Break the Matrix of illusion that holds your senses captive.

once you do . you too will have the wisdom of God that comes only through the Holy Spirit. Saved By grace through Faith. Just like seeing a new colour.... can't explain it to a transient caught in the matrix of worldly deception.
You will also see how the world suppresses this information and distorts it

You're all smart people . I tell the truth. Its hard to think out of the box when earthly thinking is the box.
I'ts a personal free experience you can do it free anytime . Don't wait till you are about to die.. START PUTTING YOUR TREASURES WHERE THEY REALLY MATTER >
Its awsome and It's just between you and Jesus

my testimony

Romans 10:9

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
The, looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.
“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he, and then with twinkling eye,
“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”
And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed – the hammers gone.

Dot, not to worry. That person is a true Christian. Forced to change their handle because you slimes that claim to be atheists hijack our handles to write your nonsense to block our post. Dot, didn't you accuse me and other Christians of writing said posts? LOL.

Glad to prove again, how wrong, wrong, wrong you atheists are, not only about Jesus' spiritual truth, but, life in general.

P.S. No, I don't miss blogging with you morons. I just pop in once in a blue moon to assist my fellow Christians.

October 15, 2012 at 1:06 pm |

The Real World

You described nothing but imagination, and a bit of self-deception for believing your imagination is actually reality.

If you accept Lucky the Leprechaun into your heart without preconception that he is a fairy tale, then he too can live and do wonders, in an imaginary way.

I drank too much warm milk last night ya'll. it was good cuz it was extra chunky.

October 15, 2012 at 10:57 am |

Tom

"Grace is getting what we don't deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve." Justice is when some bastard gets what he does deserve. Mercy for myself, please. Justice for others.

What is it when a mudslide takes out an orphanage and a hundred kids get what they don't deserve? Grace, I guess.

October 15, 2012 at 6:43 am |

Mirosal

but don't you know??? .... it's "GOD'S will" that it should happen.. maybe "god" is just stopping them from becoming thieves and societal leeches when they grow up, so "he" doesn't let them grow up. What a master plan, huh?

October 15, 2012 at 8:15 am |

Robert Brown

It is all speculation why bad things happen to innocents. Satan rules this earth and only God’s children have the hedge of God’s protection around them. God also visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children up to the fourth generation of them that hate him. Who knows a tragedy may be considered a win win for God. A child who would have grown up and never accepted him now goes to heaven instead of hell and someone who had not trusted him comes to trust him because of the tragedy. He works things out for good for those that love him. God’s mercy, forgiveness, and protection are available to all those who will put their trust in him. He loved us first and only asks that we love him back.

October 15, 2012 at 9:01 am |

William Demuth

Robert

Claiming that Satan runs the earth is blasphemous, and would have had you burnt or pressed to death.

I do not think you even remotely understand what has been done by your fellow Christians to those who "misinterperet" the gospels.

You seen reasonably educated, but for some reason you are under the false impression that you can merely make up new dogma and not be challenged.

If Christ is divine, the ONLY reason that he is not in control is because he is indifferent

Or, because he exists only in the most primitive and terrified parts of your mind.

October 15, 2012 at 9:27 am |

Robert Brown

Matthew 4:8-9 “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
Did you notice where Satan said “All these things will I give thee”. Satan has power, not as much power as God, but power nonetheless. This is not my doctrine, it is the word. Perhaps it conflicts with something you have learned.

October 15, 2012 at 10:03 am |

William Demuth

I suggest you read again.

Satan has only the power to decieve (according to the bible)

Unless perhaps Jesus is mistaken when he insists "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Matthew 28:18. ??

October 15, 2012 at 10:11 am |

William Demuth

Robert

Even further the bible proclains "the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." (Daniel as I recall)

Any power Satan has is SOLELY because the Highest of Highs, and Divinestof divinities permits it.

It is really quite simple. Either God is a preordained winner because he is omnipotent, or he isn't.

You can chose either side, but what you are implying is illogical in the context of Christianity

The discussion is predicated on the assumption that Reality is seen from the point of view of individuals. It is not. It is a good thing that the universe is not unpredictable. The mudslide happened because the forces of nature and Physics work just the way they are supposed to work. That is a good thing for the majority of humans. It had an unfortunate outcome for a few. But we would not want the laws of physics to be randomly suspended. There are unfortunate outcomes for individuals, (cancers, car accidents, death, etc). BUT actually they exist in patterns of Probability which actually promote stability and the good of the (larger) group. For example if there were no mutations, (a few of which produce cancers), there would be no evolution. There is no reason for any gods in anything. Only Science, and Probability, when analyzing what are perceived as "unfortunate" events. They are not unfortunate in a larger picture. The fact that the universe is predictable, is a good thing, and we would not want it any other way.

There is no god. If she *had* a will, it would mean her "eternalness* would be refuted. An "action" brings an "infinity" to a stop, IN TIME. Either god exists "timelessly" or not. Every time an "action" is imputed to a god, it defies god's definition, Of "eternal", and "infinite". If it does NOT, then "infinite god", and "eternal god" have no meaning. Can't have it bith ways, AND also have words that actually have any real meaning content.

October 15, 2012 at 12:14 pm |

Robert Brown

William Demuth,
I will agree that satan has the power to deceive. Also, that God allows satan to exist for a time. If you aren’t a child of God then you are deceived and are a child of the devil.
John 8:44, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

October 15, 2012 at 1:27 pm |

William Demuth

I am not sure Robert, but I believe you just capitulated?

October 15, 2012 at 2:50 pm |

HeavenSent

Mirosal and Tom. I know my answer is going to go over your heads, but, try to comprehend His truth. God takes some folks out so that they don't have to deal with His wrath in the end. Jesus is at the door. Or, haven't you heard. Those folks that have been taken out are learning Jesus' truth, as we blog. They get to learn His truth. And you? Now, what is your excuse except to be utter morons through life?

October 15, 2012 at 6:05 pm |

Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things

Prayer changes things

October 15, 2012 at 5:53 am |

His cur jests

Curb your God.

October 15, 2012 at 6:35 am |

Snopes concurs that...

Without any evidence to support your claim of prayer working, you are only showing what religious retardation is

October 15, 2012 at 6:57 am |

Jesus

Prayer does not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.

An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.

The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!

October 15, 2012 at 10:56 am |

hal 9001

I'm sorry, "Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things", but everything you have ever asserted regarding atheism and prayer is unfounded. The degree to which your assertions may represent truths is 0.0. To help you understand the degree to which your assertions may represent truths, I will access my Idiomatic Expression Equivalency module (IEE). Using my IEE module, the expression that best matches the degree to which your assertions may represent truths is: "TOTAL FAIL".

I see that you repeat these unfounded statements with high frequency. Perhaps the following book might help you overcome this problem:

I'm Told I Have Dementia: What You Can Do... Who You Can Turn to...
by the Alzheimer's Disease Society

October 15, 2012 at 10:59 am |

HeavenSent

For the eyes of the Lord [are] over the righteous, and his ears [are open] unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord [is] against them that do evil.

The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.